TCM, I'd be like yourself, from a historical background, and I suppose like you I've come to realise recently I came out the other end of my education without any great understanding of economics. I've ended up in retail banking although to be honest my role wouldn't require any knowledge of economics. I've never read any books on the subject (even popular stuff), most of what I've picked up (and it is very basic) has come from the net and articles. On top of the stuff the other have recommended, I'd give the website The Property Pin (
www.thepropertypin.com) a go. There's a good concentration of minds there from various backgrounds and across the range of political and economic thought (ranging from survivalist to socialist) and it's very much Irish orientated. A lot of it will go over your head when you see discussions of derivatives, credit default swaps etc. but there's a lot of info for the beginer too.